the scam from stereo manufacturers that fool consumers

When customers come and buy speakers, there is a natural assumption that a 3 way speaker or 4 ways speaker is better than a 2 way speaker. Now let me explain a bit, the number of “ways” in speaker just means how many speakers there is in the system. A 2 way speaker means there are 2 speakers which is the tweeter & the woofer. A 3 way means there is the tweeter, mid-range, and the woofer.

Theoretically, if you design the speaker properly, a 3 way system should have better sound quality than 2 way systems because it divide the frequency range into 3 parts and it’s easier to make good speaker with narrower frequency range.

But here is the problem, most of the so called 3 way or 4 way speakers we found in car stereo are low end product that are priced less than $200 a pair, or $100 when on sale. If you think about it, the manufacture needs to use the $100 and make 3~4 speakers instead of 2. So in the end, with the same cost, you get either 3~4 crappy speakers compare to 2 better ones. And because the bad ones can’t produce as good sound quality, you will end up with more distortion.  So would you have 3 “noise generators” shouting at you or 2 better behaved loudspeaker singing to your ears? That’s why in most high priced reference systems, you only see 2 way speakers.  Unless you go REALLY high end, then you will start to find more complicated designs.  So if you have the budget, go for it.